Candidates competing for illegal immigration spotlight

NORTH COUNTY —— In the early stages of the fight for the
Republican nomination in the 50th Congressional District race in
2006, illegal immigration is surging to the forefront as a major
campaign issue for at least two conservatives who are potential
candidates.

On July 14, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Escondido, announced
he would not seek re-election, citing the fallout from a federal
grand jury investigation into his financial ties to a Washington
defense contractor, as well as the toll it was taking on his
family.

Within hours of the eight-term congressman's announcement, the
jockeying to fill his seat began as state Sen. Bill Morrow,
R-Oceanside, informally announced he would run to replace the
former Top Gun Navy flight instructor.

Morrow and two others —— a candidate and former state
assemblyman, Howard Kaloogian; and a likely candidate, Assemblyman
Mark Wyland —— have talked publicly for weeks about the need for
stronger enforcement of immigration laws.

Morrow and Wyland have begun pushing their views on illegal
immigration. As the fight for the GOP nomination begins, each man
appears to be positioning himself as the Don Quixote of activism
against illegal immigration —— would-be knights in pursuit of
stronger immigration laws and the seat in Congress.

Two days after Cunningham announced he would not seek
re-election, Morrow visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Campo to
support a controversial border watch by the California Minuteman
Project.

The group is one of several organizations that have sprouted
across the nation to pressure the federal government to more
strongly enforce immigration laws.

While in Campo, a Morrow staff member was allegedly assaulted by
a protestor, generating media coverage and highlighting Morrow's
fight against illegal immigration.

Then on August 11, Morrow sponsored a town hall meeting titled
the "Illegal Immigration Crisis" at Carlsbad High School. He
invited several guest speakers who have achieved national attention
in the illegal-immigration arena.

The event generated intense media coverage for the days leading
up to and after the event.

On Aug. 8, the Carlsbad Unified School District superintendent
announced he was canceling the event because of concerns that it
could lead to violence between anti-illegal immigration activists
and human rights groups.

The next day, Morrow's attorney filed a law suit to force the
school district to reinstate the permit, which Superintendent John
Roach then did the following day. Passions ran high between the
opposing groups outside the event, but more than 150 police
officers kept the crowd under control.

An immigration rights activist said Friday that, because illegal
immigration has become such a hot topic, politicians are using it
to leverage their political careers.

"It seems that Democrats and Republicans are playing on the
fears of the American public and taking a confrontational approach,
rather than solving the immigration debate," said Christian
Ramirez, the San Diego director for the American Friends Service
Committee.

As the rhetoric grows more intense, not only illegal immigrants,
but American Latinos are feeling the heat, Ramirez added.

"There is a climate across the entire country that immigrants
are to blame for absolutely everything that is wrong in the United
States," Ramirez said. "That has ramifications for American
Latinos, because the perception is that anyone who doesn't fit the
profile of an 'all-American citizen' is lumped into the immigrant
community."

But for Morrow, the most important thing is calling things the
way the are, he said.

"If there is a risk associated with presenting the truth, then I
will accept it any day," he said Friday.

A North County Republican political consultant, Jack Orr, said
last week that in the race to see who will come out on top for the
nomination to replace Cunningham, illegal immigration will be the
primary issue.

"It is the issue of 2005-06, and all Republican candidates will
be on it," Orr said. "If the Democrats don't, they will be buried
quickly, because this cuts across party lines."

Thus far in these early stages of the race to the Republican
primary, Morrow has succeeded in attracting the most attention to
the issue.

"If you think of politicians as playing 'king of the hill,'
(Morrow) has certainly staked out the top of the hill," Orr
said.

Morrow said Friday that, regardless of his campaign, illegal
immigration is the number one issue facing San Diego County.

And he said he believed that most area Latinos support stronger
enforcement.

"Unfortunately, the open-border advocates and pro-immigration
activists oftentimes are viewed as the spokespeople of the majority
of Latinos in California, and I don't think that is the case,"
Morrow said. "I think it is more a situation where they are the
ones with the bullhorn."

Wyland, who says he is "seriously considering" running for
Cunningham's seat, has also made a splash on the illegal
immigration front in recent days. On Thursday, he wrote an opinion
article for the North County Times on the issue. He also called
Thursday for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of
emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego and Imperial
counties in an effort to secure the border.

"The health, safety and pocketbooks of all Californians are in
jeopardy because of illegal immigration," Wyland stated in a news
release. "This has become a critical situation because the federal
government has been unable to control the border, so we must take
steps in the meantime to secure it."

And on Friday, Morrow's office e-mailed the North County Times a
copy of a letter he had sent the governor's office, dated Thursday,
in which Morrow also called on Schwarzenegger to declare a state of
emergency along the border.

But Republicans aren't the only ones concerned about illegal
immigration.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, also called on the
governor Thursday to declare a state of emergency.

Last week, the North County Times asked an academic who
specializes in congressional politics and 20th century American
history for his opinion on the effectiveness of using illegal
immigration as a campaign tool in the 50th District race.

UC San Diego professor Gary Jacobson said that, because more
than a dozen possible candidates have surfaced in the race for
Cunningham's seat, a single hot-button issue could determine the
outcome.

Because the vote will be split among several candidates, "You
can distinguish yourself from the other candidates on a single
issue and, if you get a large enough minority of the vote, win the
nomination," Jacobson said.

That will change in the general election, however, he said. "I
don't know how broadly that (illegal immigration) theme will appeal
to all of the electorate."

As a short-term strategy, using illegal immigration may be
politically expedient, Jacobson said. But with the increasing
number of Latino voters, pushing the issue too hard could pose
risks to Republicans in the years to come, he added.

"By being too hard-line, they are alienating the fastest growing
part of the electorate," Jacobson said. "The danger is establishing
themselves as the enemy. National (Republican) leaders don't want
that to happen, because they can read the demographics, too."